While most films have some aspect of romance between characters (at least as a subplot) a romance film can be loosely defined as any film in which the central plot (the premise of the story) revolves around the romantic involvement of the story’s protagonists. Common themes include the characters making decisions based on a newly-found romantic attraction. The questions, “What am I living for?” or “Why am I with my current partner?” often arise.

The appeal of these films is in the dramatic reality of the emotions expressed by the characters. The following is a list of recent romantic films. The most successful romantic film is Titanic (1997) with $1.8 Billion.

Another prerequisite is that the film has a happy ending (or at least bittersweet) and many would argue that no film with a sad ending may be correctly defined as “romance;” however, this second prerequisite is admittedly disputable and many screenwriters and directors will push the boundaries of the genre in this aspect.

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Other Names

  • Chick flick refers to the popularity of romance films among women despite their often clichéd stories and plot devices.

Examples


Tyrone Power embraces Alice Faye in the 1938 film Alexander’s Ragtime Band

  • A Walk to Remember
  • An Affair to Remember
  • Before Sunrise and its sequel, Before Sunset
  • Bridget Jones’s Diary
  • Camille
  • Casablanca
  • City of Angels
  • Dirty Dancing
  • Doctor Zhivago
  • Girl on the Bridge
  • Love Story
  • Message in a Bottle
  • Pretty Woman
  • Pride and Prejudice – 1940, 2003, 2005
  • Random Harvest
  • Stay as you are (aka Così come sei)
  • The Holiday (2006)
  • The Sheik
  • Sleepless in Seattle
  • While You Were Sleeping
  • The Bachelor

See also

  • AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Passions
  • Romantic comedy film

External links

  • IMDb guide to Romance movies
  • Best Romantic Movies
  • Top 102 romantic dramas at the box office

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Films by genre

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Categories: Romance films | Film genres | Interpersonal relationships | Romance | Film genre stubs